President Donald Trump is once again threatening to pull federal funding from so-called sanctuary cities, a decision that could hurt Philadelphia.
In a tweet Thursday morning, the president warned that these cities should “go non-Sanctuary,” apparently referencing a ruling from the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan that said his administration can withhold millions of dollars in law enforcement grants to force states to cooperate with immigration authorities.
“Do not protect criminals!” the president tweeted.
As reported by the Associated Press’ Larry Neumeister, the New York court’s ruling overturned a lower court decision ordering the administration to release funding to New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Washington, Massachusetts, Virginia and Rhode Island. The states had sued the government in 2017 after the Trump administration announced it would withhold grant money from cities and states until they gave federal immigration authorities access to jails and provide advance notice when someone in the country illegally is about to be released.
Through a spokesman, the city of Philadelphia declined to comment about how officials would handle a loss of federal funds and whether immigrants in the city should be worried.
The city had previously won a lawsuit against the Department of Justice. In that suit, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit riled that the DOJ had overstepped its authority by attempting to cut off grant money to Philadelphia over how the city deals with undocumented immigrants.
